Airconditioner tips
1. Once you decide which type of air conditioner would suit your needs better, you can look at the size of the air conditioner. Here, bigger does not mean better. Large air conditioner units cool spaces in a quick amount of time, which you think would be good until you realize that the air conditioners has to turn on and off repeatedly wasting more money and electricity than necessary. Large units also do not get rid of the humidity in the air as well. However, too small of a unit will not be able to cool even a small area and will have to be run constantly, wasting more energy, and possibly not even cooling the area.
2. When looking into purchasing an air conditioner, think about the area that you will be cooling. when thinking about size alone, an air conditioner generally needs 60 Btu for each square foot of living space. For instance, to air condition a room that is 15 feet wide and 20 feet long, you would calculate: 15 x 20 x 60(Btu) = 18,000. Thus, an air conditioner with a 18,000 Btu capacity would be required.
3. Energy efficiency in air conditioners should be a major deciding factor in your decision and purchase. This element can often be the deal breaker when considering units with similar prices and features. high efficiency units may be higher priced, but will save you more money in the long run because they cost less to operate
4. Once you have purchased an air conditioner make sure it is properly installed in order for it to be most efficient. If a unit is improperly installed it will waste energy. You can install the unit in a shaded spot so it does not decrease efficiency by having the sun beat down on the outside part of the outdoor heat exchanger. You can also shade the unit with an awning or similar device if it must be in the sun. Try not to hide the unit’s external part behind shrubbery. Also do not obstruct the back of the unit with plants because this also decreases efficiency. The air conditioner also should lay flat.
5. Make sure to examine the unit’s air filters once a month to keep it running efficiently. Clean or replace filters when necessary. Keeping your filters clean can cut energy consumption 5 to 15%.
6. Make sure furniture does not obstruct air conditioning vents. Also, be sure to close doors to rooms that are unused because they do not need to be cooled.
7. Close all unnecessary openings such as fireplace dampers, doors and windows to maintain air-conditioner efficiency at a maximum.
8. Set the thermostat to 24 deg C. Anything lower can increase your costs by at least 12%
9. One mistake that people make is turning the thermostat to a lower temperature at first because they think it will cool the room faster but the reality is it won’t. Instead it will only cool to a lower temperature than necessary and waste energy.
10. Servicing is important so as to make your unit more efficient and save energy. You can engage a professional service technician and he should be able to clean the evaporator and condenser coils, check refrigerant pressures, and adjust and lubricate moving parts. Sometime, there will not be enough refrigerant gas. In this case, the technician will also top up the unit. A professional technician will be able to detect symptoms that can lead to energy wastage or inefficiencies, and rectify them.
11. An air conditioner consists of two separate parts: a condenser and an evaporator coil. A refrigerant gas is compressed and then cooled within the condenser before being sent through the evaporator coil to cool the air that circulates around it. A blower then forces the cooled air out into the room.
12. There are two different kinds of air conditioning systems out there: a unit air conditioner, and a central cooling system. What’s the difference? A unit air conditioner is the big box you put in your window, and a central cooling system hooks your entire house up to one system, and each room gets cooled through vents.
13. Remember that cool air does not travel around corners, so don’t expect to place an air conditioner in a curving hallway and keep your bedroom at the other end of the hall at 18 degrees C. It won’t work.
14. It’s important to measure your selected room (or rooms) VERY carefully. Why? Because 90 percent of your decision-making process involves the size of the room that you want to keep cool. So measure the entire room once, twice or even three times to get it right. Write down the height, width and length of the room.
15. Never select a no-name brand without researching it, or you won’t know what kind of quality and durability you’re getting. The best is to pick a brand you already trust.
16. Here’s what it means: every air conditioner has a cooling capacity number that ranges from 7,000 to 60,000 Btus. The higher the Btu value, the stronger the air conditioner is. (“Btu” stands for “British thermal units.”)
17. When calculating btus needed:
- If the room is shaded, reduce the Btus by 10 percent.
- If the room is very sunny, increase the Btus by 10 percent.
- If you plan on placing the air conditioning unit in your kitchen, add 4,000 Btus.
- If more than two people will regularly be in the room (e.g., an office), add 600 Btus per person.
18. “EER” stands for “Energy Efficiency Ratio.” Air conditioners with high EERs are good, because they cost less to operate. Unfortunately, they’re also more expensive, so you have to find a balance. Air conditioners’ EERs usually range from 8.2 to 10.5. So if you’re going to have your air conditioner on for quite some time and you’re planning on keeping it for a couple of years, then it’s worthwhile to get an a/c with a high EER.
19. Sleep setting/Energy saver switch: Some unit air conditioners have a sleep setting so that, at night when you are sleeping, the air conditioner slows the cooling process to a minimum, saving money and energy.
20. Make sure to get your air conditioner serviced regularly, or it will lose around 5 percent of its efficiency every year. Maintaining your air conditioner routinely will prevent you from having to spend cash later on to fix all the parts that have gone bad.
21. Clean and change your filters often and keep stuff away from the unit’s mechanism to keep it running at optimal efficiency.
22. Make sure that your room has tight seals around every window and door. This will maximize the energy efficiency of your home during both the summer and winter months, particularly when you’re using your air conditioner.